The Way the World Works
by Gx Fangirl of Rainbows
Summary: After being found in an abusive home, Rex is adopted by Dr. Owens. There's a problem though; Rex refuses to speak. Dr. Owens, hoping to help him, sends him to spend the Summer with the Taylors. Will Max and his famiy be Rex's salvation, or will he spend the rest of his life in silence. (T because I'm paranoid...)
1. Chapter 1

Drip, drip, drip; the droplets of water fell from the sky, at first small in number, though more quickly joined in as thunder began booming through the sky. From the window of a small room, a young boy, barely older than twelve, sat and watched the storm. For a moment he closed his eyes and just listened. The soft 'ping' of raindrops knocking on the forever locked window was swallowed by the sound effects of the natural lightshow.

Slightly opening his eyes he stared at the ground, legs pulled taut against his chest. His head popped up in surprise at the racket coming from the ceiling. After a moment a ceiling tile began to move and the boy almost smiled as he stood up slowly, slightly wincing. He made his way under the moving tile, careful to keep the falling dust out of his eyes.

Soon afterwards, a little girl's head with shoulder-length pink hair popped up from the space. Smiling and waving, their eyes held the short conversation they had. The repeated questions and answers as clear as the rain. "Hey, how are you holding up? Do you need anything?" "I'm fine. It could be worse, though I'm out of band aids again if you have any." And she would give him a sad smile before tossing down a box of silently said items and a sheet of paper. "Thanks Laura." "Anytime."

And thus the six-year-old's head would disappear and the tile would be fixed as though it wasn't ever moved in the first place.

The young boy waved a little at nothing in particular before stuffing the band aids and paper into the medium-sized box containing his belongings near his cot for later. Looking back to the floor, he swept up the bits and pieces of the tile that had fallen on it and moved them under his cot, making a mental note to dump them out the first chance he got. Finishing up he walked back to the box and pulled out the paper, quickly scanning the message written in a code that he had mastered long ago. He, Laura, and her older brother Rod had created it soon after Rex arrived and had been improved up until recently.

**Hey. Hope you're doing okay. As you probably know, I snuck you a few extra band aids. I thought I'd warn you though, Seth's in a bad mood today. Be sure to rest up.  
Rod**

He finished reading it with a sigh. Sitting down, he tore the message into a million different pieces with practiced ease. Sitting back down, he slid that under his cot as well. _I'll have to dump that later too…_ he though, lying back down. He frowned knowing what was to come.

_Oh well, might as well get _some_ rest now._ Rolling over, he pulled the blanket over him and hugged it tight as he drifted off into a light sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

Walking into the room, the boy sat the plate of food on the table in front of Seth and backed away. He bowed slightly, barely looking up at the dinner, then glancing at Seth. He quickly crashed his stare back to the ground when Seth glared at him. A full minute passed before anyone moved, the only noise being the young boy's soft breathing. Slowly, Seth raised his hand, motioning for the boy to come near. Hesitantly the boy walked; 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 steps before stopping next to Seth's chair. Eyes trained on the ground, he tensed, readying himself.

Suddenly, and hand was brought down on the boy's face, sending his body to the floor.

"You are not to look at me, you scum." Seth commanded. The boy wobbled to his feet, the red mark now swelling and making his cheek appear large. Other than that there was nothing. His face was an emotionless mask, a doll, and Seth just glared at it with all the hate in the world. It infuriated him that there was no longer a reaction from the boy. Standing abruptly, Seth marched over to him, punching him in the gut before throwing him back to the floor.

From the vent, teary green eyes watched on as her best friend was hurt.

"Go back to your room and starve!" Seth bellowed.

Later that night, another boy with dark brown hair and eyes and tan skin sat on his bed tapping his fingers on his knee, deep in thought. _Should I? I really want to help him more but… if I'm caught he'll only get hurt more. Think Rod think! _Groaning in frustration Rod plopped down on his bed, slamming his head onto the pillow.

Click. The door to Rod's room opened slowly, revealing it to be Laura. Head down, she looked ready to cry, with tears already beginning to form in the corners of her eyes. He jumped up, running to his younger sister.

"Laura! Are you okay, are you hurt, what happened?!" He questioned while checking her for any form of injury. She shook her head, tears now freely falling.

"H-he was he was hu-hurt again… Rod, w-we have to, to get him out of he-here!" She wailed as Rod tried to calm her down.

"Shh…shh… It's okay, it's alright. I know he needs to get out. I have a plan but I need you to stay calm okay." He explained, giving her a warm hug. Laura nodded, wiping away her tears and returning the hug. Putting on a brave face she looked up at him.

"What's the plan?" Leaning over, he started whispering in her ear, with Laura nodding every now and then as she tried to suppress the smirk forming on her face. If it worked, the next few days were going to be the best of their lives.

Meanwhile, Rex sat in his small room alone, bandaging his newly formed cuts and bruises; praying for this living nightmare to end.


	3. Chapter 3

One week and four days; that's how many days had passed since Rod had told Laura the plan. Over that period of time the two of them had managed to gather together all of the things they would need. They had waited for Seth to go out again. And now, the time had finally come.

Laura took a shaky breath, her muscles tensed. Placing a hand on her shoulder he looked down and gave her a reassuring smile. They were determined to get both themselves and their best friend out, and there was no way they would, could back down.

Sending a silent prayer that Seth wouldn't be returning early, they unlocked their window with the pocket knife Laura had snatched from the kitchen a few days ago. It was times like these that the two wished that Rex was on the first floor instead of the second. Slowly it opened, only large enough for them to squeeze through so as not to set off any alarms.

Laura crawled through the window, tumbling off on the other side and onto the grass. Rod followed soon after, barely able to fit. Standing up, he dusted to dirt off. With a silent nod, the two ran off, careful as to not alert anyone of the 'runaways'.

Slowly, they made their way into the closest town, hoping that they wouldn't run into Seth on the way. Before leaving Rod had grabbed a map of the town so they wouldn't get lost. The town was different than they had seen in years, and yet it was exactly how they expected it to be, similar to what they remembered.

As they were making their way down a quiet street a drop fell on Rod, running down his face and neck. He stopped and held out his hand, finding more raindrops hitting him.

"We had better find the police station or something quick before starts raining harder." Rod commented, beginning to walk faster.

"Yeah. I sure hope he's alright." Laura replied, quickening her pace to match her brother's. Said brother nodded, not needing to ask who 'he' was. The rain grew harder and soon the siblings found themselves running down the street towards where the police station was.

After what felt like forever they reached the station. By the time they had arrived the rain was pouring and they were soaked. For a moment they just stood there, both to catch their breath and simply not believing what was happening, before walking through the doors.

Back at Seth's house, the boy sat on his cot, using the window as a mirror to bandage the recently acquired cuts and bruises littering his face and arms.

_Sometimes I wish they would just cover the window so it will stop teasing me by holding my freedom right under my nose…_ he thought sullenly, turning away from the mocking square. He slowly lied down, wary of the unreachable bruise on his back. Quietly, he made a wish before drifting off.


End file.
